External Hard Drive Failure - HELP!!

[jjmac]

Attention all beyond IT geniuses!

So my External hard drive made a huge "THUD" noise and moved the whole thing a few inches back and forth.

Now it won't even show on my computer and every time I plug it in, it just makes beeping sounds.

So I'm pretty sure it went belly up.

Anyway I can recover my files?

All tips and suggestion would be appreciated!

[dj_rice]

This is what I'm going to buy off Ebay and try and see if I can it off the external.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-2-0-to-I...-/400523542611


I believe its the enclosure thats messed, so hopefully this works.

This is the video I saw that made me want to try

[TimH]

Originally posted by dj_rice
This is what I'm going to buy off Ebay and try and see if I can it off the external.

You can buy a similar kit from Memory Express if you don't want to wait but it's going to cost more.

The USB to SATA card in external hard drives die at a lot higher frequency than the hard drives themselves. If you plug an external hard drive into a computer and you don't hear the "Windows just detected a new device" sound then typically it's the USB card. You can always take the hard drive out of the enclosure and just directly connect it to a SATA port inside your desktop computer (if you're using one).

[firebane]

A few things..
1) Loud clunks, thumps or beeps is obviously never a good sign and generally means drive is dead.

2) I wouldn't spend any money on the drive. See if you have a friend who can help you by putting into their machine or perhaps has the usb to sata adapter

3) Try laying the drive upside down as this can help too

4) This is a bit more risky but it will tell you if the drive is even spinning up. Once you provide power to it try to move it every so slightly and you should feel a gyration motion. If the motion doesn't happen the drive isn't being powered on.

[dj_rice]

Originally posted by TimH


You can buy a similar kit from Memory Express if you don't want to wait but it's going to cost more.

The USB to SATA card in external hard drives die at a lot higher frequency than the hard drives themselves. If you plug an external hard drive into a computer and you don't hear the "Windows just detected a new device" sound then typically it's the USB card. You can always take the hard drive out of the enclosure and just directly connect it to a SATA port inside your desktop computer (if you're using one).

Will the USB to SATA card work if I only have a laptop?

[firebane]

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX43931

Plugs into your usb port.

[taemo]

Originally posted by firebane
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX43931

Plugs into your usb port.

I have this and it works pretty good

and I agree that the HDD itself might be dead because of the noise coming from it.

if the HDD is still not showing on a PC with the adapter, as last resort put the drive in the freezer overnight, then the next day try reading the drive while frozen, you might get 10-20min window to access your files but after that your HDD is gone.

[UndrgroundRider]

Originally posted by jjmac
Attention all beyond IT geniuses!

So my External hard drive made a huge "THUD" noise and moved the whole thing a few inches back and forth.

If it really moved a few inches all on it's own then your drive is toast. There's only one thing that could cause it to do that, and that's something breaking internally (probably the actuator arm) and jamming the platters causing instant deceleration. Even if you send it into a data recovery centre, the chance they can get your data back is very low.

The platters are made out of glass, and that kind of off axis force will cause them to crack if not completely shatter. Even if the platters aren't cracked, there's no telling what kind of damage was done to the platter surface.

[DeleriousZ]

A thunk and movement makes me think the disc itself has stopped spinning due to a bearing or motor failure. Even if it's lightweight, something spinning at 5400rpm has a pretty good amount of inertia.

[jjmac]

The drive isn't spinning. I usually hear it start spinning, but like I said all I hear now is beeping.

The tip on the video is worth the shot at this point. I'll just pull the my files out if it works and transfer it to a new drive.

Thank you all for your tips!

Also do you guys back up your stuff on cloud? If so, do you have have a preference?

[n1zm0]

Originally posted by taemo


I have this and it works pretty good

I've also used my vantec nexstar adapter for tons of HDDs with much success, if your hard drive does spool up I suggest recuva to pull whatever you can off it, one of the few freeware recovery progs that I found to work hassle free.

[jjmac]

Originally posted by UndrgroundRider


If it really moved a few inches all on it's own then your drive is toast. There's only one thing that could cause it to do that, and that's something breaking internally (probably the actuator arm) and jamming the platters causing instant deceleration. Even if you send it into a data recovery centre, the chance they can get your data back is very low.

The platters are made out of glass, and that kind of off axis force will cause them to crack if not completely shatter. Even if the platters aren't cracked, there's no telling what kind of damage was done to the platter surface.

Bye bye vacation photos and curated porn

[Seth1968]

Originally posted by UndrgroundRider


If it really moved a few inches all on it's own then your drive is toast. There's only one thing that could cause it to do that, and that's something breaking internally (probably the actuator arm) and jamming the platters causing instant deceleration. Even if you send it into a data recovery centre, the chance they can get your data back is very low.

The platters are made out of glass, and that kind of off axis force will cause them to crack if not completely shatter. Even if the platters aren't cracked, there's no telling what kind of damage was done to the platter surface.

This exactly.

[revelations]

Anything like that means instant death for a drive. I had an external drive from a client that was physically seized - in probably the same fashion as yours. It wouldnt spin up, just sat there and beeped.

Took it out of the case and opened up the drive cover (no data to recover as it was a backup drive only). The disk was seized so tight it took two screwdrivers to get it to spin - but spin it did eventually (working the bearings back and forth) and it was completely fucked as it spun like a wobbling top after that.

I havent tried seeing if there is data on it, but I suspect not as the heads have crashed into the platter.

Youd be looking at 600-1000$ for basic data recovery.

[EK69]

I find dropbox to be pretty easy to use.
U can look into a skydrive or google disk solution depending on which you use for email (or use both since the amount of space u get for free is limited)

But if ur backing up many many gigs (pics, porn) then a raid solution would be the best bet.

[ipeefreely]

Originally posted by jjmac


Bye bye vacation photos and curated porn

You should never store vacation photos & porn on the same drive! Raises too many questions if you need data recovery!!!

I'd recommend making a quick backup DVD or Blu-ray of your photos right after your vacation because they are irreplaceable were as porn or other media you can usually just re download. Then backup again after you've sorted thought them... and the "Cloud" can shit it's pants too, so always have a physical backup of your data.

Originally posted by EK69
But if ur backing up many many gigs (pics, porn) then a raid solution would be the best bet.

RAID isn't a backup solution... you're asking for more trouble if you think it is...

[revelations]

Originally posted by ipeefreely
RAID isn't a backup solution... you're asking for more trouble if you think it is...

Just to clarify:

RAID is not a backup solution for ITSELF (eg RAID NAS)

RAID IS a backup solution for other systems though (eg desktop PC, with a external RAID device attached as backup)

[EK69]

Originally posted by revelations


Just to clarify:

RAID is not a backup solution for ITSELF (eg RAID NAS)

RAID IS a backup solution for other systems though (eg desktop PC, with a external RAID device attached as backup)

And depending on the array type it could be a back up for itself as well (data striping with parity)...as one drive failure wouldn't kill the array but would be able to be rebuilt hopefully.

Or just keep multiple copies of important shit like the vacation pics on different drives lol

[UndrgroundRider]

Originally posted by revelations
I had an external drive from a client that was physically seized ...

Took it out of the case and opened up the drive cover

Not a very good chance of getting anything off of it now. At least it wasn't important.

[revelations]

Originally posted by UndrgroundRider


Not a very good chance of getting anything off of it now. At least it wasn't important.

Actually taking a cover off is not the immediate death sentence people think it is.

Long-term yes, but short term (ie get data off) its fine.